


capture the objective (my heart)

by baecobz



Series: in every universe [7]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Confessions, Crushes, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Love Confessions, M/M, Overwatch - Freeform, Overwatch AU, Video Game Mechanics, pro gamer yukhei
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 21:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14756729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baecobz/pseuds/baecobz
Summary: yukhei just wants to play his stupid game and maybe stream him getting his ass kicked, but mark always seems to take priority in his mind (and his heart).or, yukhei is a pro gamer with a crush, and mark just wants to make things clear.





	capture the objective (my heart)

**Author's Note:**

> i havent read this through At All so im sorry for any mistakes!!!  
> also!!!!! this is an au where yukheis a pro overwatch player, so there are lots of things in the fic that talk abt/describe it!! if u dont know ow very well u shld still be able to read/enjoy this, but understanding the game might help :'O

“can someone explain to me who came up with the new junkrat skin?” yukhei shakes his head, careful not to move too much lest it move his headset around. “like, you guys saw that thing on twitter, right? where it’s basically just lucio’s hair copied and pasted?”

he leans back in his chair, and it’s just another moment where he’s grateful for having invested in an actual gaming chair instead of sticking to the hand-me-down office chair from his mom. he peers at his monitor, lips pursed as he does his best to read the comments flooding in in different languages.

“no, no, i dig the pirate thing, but-- his  _ hair _ , you know?”

he reaches out to adjust his computer, fixing his bangs when he sees how messy they’ve gotten over the past hour. it causes a surge of comments from some fans, and yukhei can’t even help but grin when a few of them spam heart emoticons in his chat box.

he’s about to comment on it when the telltale noise from his computer lets him know that he’s being added to a game, and then he’s focused on his main monitor above anything else.

he’s always loved streaming on his weekends, a nice reprieve after the stressful matches from the league, and now that the final round is over, he’s free to spend hours going live on twitch.

“i’m just gonna-- hey, who should i play as for my placement matches?” he peers at the flurry of suggestions, hesitating when he sees a familiar username pop up. he hasn’t really talked to mark in awhile, not since The Incident, and while he hadn’t known if mark still watched his streams, the comment in front of him gives a clear answer.

 

**lionmark**

> mercy

 

“battle mercy it is.” yukhei says finally, and the fact that he’s choosing it purely because mark had asked should probably be a sign of how weak he is when it comes to the other. it’s going to bite him in the ass someday (probably today, because there’s no way he’s going to place anywhere near gold without playing as someone else), but he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that mark knows how far he’d go for him.

he sees another familiar display name-- jungwoo, the sweet guy who had been his roommate before yukhei dropped out of college to be a pro gamer-- and snickers when he sees the  _ have fun in platinum xo  _ below it.

perhaps it’s a little stupid to be screwing himself over because of what’s probably a joke on mark’s end-- if the  _?? _ that he comments right after doesn’t scream confusion, then yukhei doesn’t know what else could-- but he’s desperate to redeem himself if only a little.

The Incident had forced a wide, uncomfortable gap between them, and yukhei knew he only had himself to blame.

it had happened like this: they’re at some restaurant, a hole in the wall korean barbeque that mark swears serves the best short ribs in the world, and yukhei is surrounded by everyone he loves most- his teammates, his friends, and most importantly, mark.

(his parents aren’t there because it’s the middle of may and they can’t afford to just fly to america to see him during the last round of matches, but yukhei has a picture of them in his wallet that makes them feel close enough.)

and mark-- he’s leaning against yukhei’s shoulder, touchy and affectionate in the way that he only gets when he’s drunk. he has a glass of soju in one hand, the other curled loosely around yukhei’s wrist, tugging him closer because  _ there’s something really important that i gotta tell you _ .

yukhei, of course, can never deny a pouting mark, and instead leans forward to let mark whisper right against his ear, “am i cute?”

yukhei pulls back, head tilted, and only stays quiet when mark giggles. he tugs on yukhei’s arm again, firmer, and despite everything in him screaming for him to abort, yukhei lets himself get dragged back against mark.

“i’m only asking because i see you staring at me a lot.” mark hums, refusing to let go, grinning while yukhei squirms in his grip. “hyung, i’m not mad, i just wanted to know why.”

panic rises in yukhei’s throat, hot and acidic as it burns its way through his lungs because  _ fuck _ , of  _ course _ mark has noticed.

after what’s probably been months of daydreaming and forlorn gazes, yukhei’s just surprised that mark hadn’t noticed earlier. but in all likelihood, mark probably had, but he just didn’t say anything about it in case he’d embarrass yukhei. drunk mark, however, has no such problems, and instead only laughs when yukhei moves to weakly push him away.

“ _ xuxi _ , hyung, c’mon, talk to me,” mark’s voice is far too sweet for someone without any filter, soothing enough to make yukhei relax a little-- because it’s  _ mark _ , probably his best friend, and he’s kind and trustworthy and wonderful, so surely he wouldn’t ask yukhei trick questions or anything like it. “do you like me, hyung?”

yukhei hadn’t even been able to answer that, eyes wide and panicked (he was never good with confrontation, after all). and if he started to avoid mark for the rest of the night, using excuses of bathroom breaks or talking to someone else, he knew mark wouldn’t call him out for it.

and mark, no matter how much he drank, always seemed to have the best memory out of all of their friends, reminding them of late-night mistakes and foolish mishaps.

the night of The Incident was no exception-- yukhei probably wouldn’t have known, because a sober mark hates conflict just as much as he does, but it was impossible to ignore when mark kept refusing yukhei’s company, responding to his usual heart-filled texts with brief, awkward responses.

yukhei had seen all of this, noticed the slowly-growing divide between them, but had stayed silent in a pathetic attempt to ignore it until it went away.

now, though, almost a few weeks later, he’s left with his league prize and an aching heart and very little to show for it.

“no, i’m not trying to throw my matches,” yukhei huffed, smiling even though his mind is going a mile a minute trying to explain his poor choice of character, “i’m, uh, testing myself. trying to improve.” his game loads the map, and he spends the rest of the match trying to focus on the game instead of mark.

it’s a little hard, because he realizes very quickly just how  _ impossible _ it is to stay in the top 4 as a mercy, but he has a point to prove, so he doesn’t switch off.

he’s not quite sure what exactly the point is, but it’s something along the lines of  _ mark i’m really really sorry please don’t be mad at me i miss you _ , so.

he goes through the first half of his placements as mercy before deciding his plays are just pathetic-- his aim’s not bad, but he’s never been comfortable playing such an aggressive support character, and he finds himself distracted thinking about whether or not mark is still watching.

“i’m just-- gonna end here today.” he says eventually; he’s reluctant to stop, since he knows he’s been off his game the whole time, but he keeps thinking  _ mark, mark, mark _ enough to refuse to let him focus on anything else. “i might do another stream tomorrow if i’m up to it, but we’ll see. if you wanna gift me lootboxes, i was planning on opening a bunch of the ones i have saved up, so i’ll give you a shoutout if you do that soon.” he gives what he hopes is a warm smile, waving at the camera on his computer and giving a quick peace sign. “later, guys.”

he reaches over to end the stream when mark’s username pops up in the chatroom again, this time with a simple message:  _ wait _ . yukhei hesitates enough, leaning back far enough that he’s nearly tipping over.

“uh, actually, i’m gonna read some comments for a second, since i didn’t really get to earlier.” another plastered on smile, this one even more ingenuine than the last. he knows some of his fans have gotten really good at determining which smiles of his are real or not, so he can only hope they don’t give him shit for it anytime soon. (not until he sorts everything out with mark.)

it’s a good thing he’s so used to picking mark’s name apart from everyone else, otherwise he’d probably be stuck floundering as he tried to read usernames and comments before they disappeared. there’s another message from mark, brief and direct as usual, and yukhei smiles. it’s soft and scared and authentic, and he hopes mark can see it.

 

**lionmark**

> do ur eyes hurt from staring at ur computer

 

it doesn’t even hint at The Incident, and while for a moment yukhei’s grateful for that, he can’t help the part of him that wants to acknowledge it and talk it out. he wants  _ closure _ , wants some sort of proper reaction from mark after having had his own crush exposed.

“i’m used to staring at bright things, so my eyes are okay after any long games,” he ends up saying, “like, i stare at my computer, at my phone, at my best friend’s smile…” he flashes a grin and a thumbs up, heart beating in his chest. he’s nowhere near brave and bold enough to just confess his undying love (or whatever it was) to mark in a full livestream, but.

he wants mark to hear it and know and just  _ respond _ .

(at this point, he’s so nervous about hearing some sort of reply that he doesn’t even care if it’s a complete rejection. all he wants is an end to the aching in his lungs.)

he doesn’t have to wait long for a response- mere moments later, mark is adding in more comments.

a lot of yukhei’s long-term fans have stopped typing in questions; by this point, they know him well enough to understand that sometimes he’s just looking for one thing in particular, and his idea of “reading comments” is just an excuse to hear what one person has to say. it’s not always mark, but it usually is.

 

**lionmark**

> dont mess with me

 

**lionmark**

> :(

 

“i’m not.” yukhei says quickly, not even bothering to check how loud he’s being until he sees an influx of laughing emoticons in the chat box. he flushes, ducking his head to repeat, quieter, “i’m not. i mean it.”

 

it’s then that his phone buzzes on his desk, which is alarming because whenever he streams, yukhei puts it on  _ do not disturb _ save for a few emergency contacts-- his parents, his old friend chenle, a few teammates (not all of them, because he knows most of them would spam his phone incessantly during streams if they could), and mark.

he glances at it quickly, pausing when he sees the taunting lion and sunflower emojis staring back at him-- he doesn’t even look at the message itself, instead turning back to his monitor with a sigh.

“one more minute, and then i gotta go take care of something important.” that’s already pushing it; with mark’s message looming in the back of his head, it takes all of yukhei’s concentration not to just end the stream right there and call mark. it’s something he probably would’ve done a few years ago, but he wouldn’t be anywhere without all of the people supporting him and his streams, so he figures they deserve for him to at least pretend to listen to what they have to say.

 

**kimjwoo**

> congrats on getting in the top 4 once lmao

 

**kimjwoo**

> im gonna screenshot ur matches and send it dongyong

 

“jungwoo,  _ don’t _ ,” yukhei hisses, sending an angry meme in the chat for emphasis. (it’s kermit, because yukhei is nothing if not intelligent and classy.) “he’d never let me live it down, you jerk.”

 

**junkmain**

> whos ur favorite teammate

 

yukhei laughs at that, and reads it aloud just to laugh over it more. if anything’s a good distraction from mark, it’s the rest of their friends-- even just thinking about them is a sure way to boost yukhei’s mood.

“oh, man,” he snickers, “i would say that’s a tough question, but it’s not. kun’s great because he doesn’t text me bad memes in the middle of the night, and he helps me with my pronunciation. taeyong too, because it’s funny when he starts doing callouts with a chinese accent instead of korean.”

 

**dragemdragons**

> what do u think of the new map

 

**dragemdragons**

> also fave anniversary skin?

 

“ooh, the new map? petra’s  _ awesome _ , man. i love all the levels and stuff, since it makes it really fun when you get the high ground. it’s a lot bigger than i expected, though. i wish there weren’t so many small rooms.” his eyes dart back to his phone, fidgeting when he sees that single message light up again, an unnerving reminder that he still hasn’t checked it. yukhei wills himself to focus for just one more minute, to give some sort of respect to the people paying for his food, and sits on his hands to keep from grabbing his phone. “but i’m digging the orisa skin. most of her other ones are kinda lame, honestly, but this one goes all out.”

 

**xuxisgf**

> whats going on w you and mark??

 

the comment throws yukhei for a loop at first; he’s not sure if it’s the weird one-sided conversation he just had with mark or his own mood that gave it away, but it’s bizarre to have anyone notice.

 

**xuxisgf**

> u havent been talking abt e/o lately

 

and  _ that _ , that’s a different story-- because yukhei may not be obvious about when he’s upset at someone because he tweets indirects or shades them online, but it’s the absence of his usual open adoration that makes people piece things together.

because, now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t really talked about mark much. he didn’t think anyone would notice, but if his daily “i love mark he’s the best person ever” tweets have faded and he’s no longer posting obnoxious zoomed-in pictures of mark on his snapchat, then he supposes it wasn’t too hard to observe as much.

“mark and i are fine.” he says eventually. “we’re not, like, fighting, but. we’re okay though, i promise. i care about him too much to just let him go.”

he gets an overwhelming amount of memes and keyboard smashes in response to that, so he figures it’s as good of a time as any to take his leave.

“alright, like i said, i might see you guys again tomorrow. if not, just come chat on my discord server or dm me on twitter, the whole works. take care!” he waves quickly, shutting off the stream before he starts shaking his whole body with nerves. his phone feels too heavy in his hands, lighting up to reveal a simple  _ can we talk? _ from mark.

yukhei takes a deep breath and sends him a quick thumbs up emoji, adding a  _ now? _ just in case.

mark only sends a  _ yes _ in response, and then there’s a call coming through and yukhei’s hands are shaking too much for him to answer on the first ring. he gets it on the second one, though, and presses it to his ear with hesitant fingers and a worried half-smile.

“hey mark.” he says. mark sighs, and that alone is enough to let yukhei know how tired the other is.

“let’s get to it.” he mumbles, and yukhei nods before quickly muttering an affirmation back. “the other night-- a few weeks ago, when i asked if you liked me-- why didn’t you answer?”

yukhei stills.

he’d been expecting a call out for his blatant crush, but not for his refusal to acknowledge it.

“wasn’t it obvious enough?” he manages, but it must be the wrong answer because mark just groans in response.

“i need to hear you say it.” mark explains, and there’s a slight shake there that makes yukhei wonder if mark is just as nervous as he is. “i need to be sure.”

it takes yukhei a second to catch his breath, but then he decides that his brain-to-mouth filter doesn’t even matter at this point, so he shrugs off his self-doubt and hums.

“it’s because i really, really like you and i’m scared you’re going to push me away.” mark starts speaking, but yukhei cuts him off quickly, “no, wait a second. i was freaked out before but you need to hear everything, okay? you’re wonderful and sweet and so, so nice, and i don’t know how i got lucky enough to be your friend. i don’t get how you’re not famous just because of how  _ amazing _ you are, you know? like, you’re just awesome. so of course i like you-- i didn’t think i’d have to say it out loud, because everyone probably does! you’re just-- you’re mark lee, you know? nicest guy in the world with the brightest smile i’ve ever seen and--”

“ _ yukhei _ !” mark yells, and yukhei would wonder if he’d done something wrong if he didn’t hear the squeak in mark’s voice that tells him that mark’s not mad, just embarrassed. “i get it, i’m just-- i’m still surprised.”

“surprised? why? you saw me staring, didn’t you?”

“i mean, yeah but  _ still _ . you think so highly of me, but--” he clears his throat, tinny through the phone speakers but endearing nonetheless, “that’s how i think of you.”

“oh.” yukhei says automatically, brain struggling to catch up. maybe playing so many video games really has fried his brain. “oh. oh shit, wait,  _ oh _ .”

“oh.” mark laughs back, weak but real, and yukhei’s entire body feels like it’s on fire.

“oh my god, mark, are you serious? i’m gonna go to your house right now and cuddle you  _ so hard _ , man. plant a big ol’ smooch on you. it doesn’t have to be your lips, i’m just really emotional right now-- oh my  _ god _ , mark! mark! mark, i really really like you.” yukhei’s fully aware that he’s rambling, but mark keeps on giggling back in response, so he figures everything’s okay.

“just come on over.” mark is smiling, and yukhei doesn’t even have to see it to know it-- he’s too busy imagining what it’d be like to kiss mark when he’s laughing, when they’re both curled up on the floor like they are when they’re together and happy, and  _ he’s going to find out _ .

the fact that this is a reality now-- that yukhei isn’t stuck dreaming and wishing and wondering-- is just another boost to his mood.

“i’m literally coming over right now. you can’t stop me. i’m gonna love the hell out of you.”

“go for it,” mark laughs, like everything is good in the world, (and maybe it is, since yukhei is in love with someone who adores him just as much, and they’re best friends and maybe a little foolish but together regardless), “i’ll love you right back.”

**Author's Note:**

> fun facts abt the au (lmk if u guys like these shdfkd):  
> -yukhei started playing ow bc he rlly liked starcraft, and then decided ow lore>anything else  
> -i hc yukhei to play on shanghai dragons bc theyre Great  
> -hed prob main tanks bc he digs the extra health  
> -mark made a twitch acc solely to watch yukhei  
> -he watches all of yukheis streams (the few tht he misses, he watches when he has free time)  
> -they play tgt sometimes but its mostly quickplay or custom games  
> SO!! yes thats the fic!!! tbh i lov pro-gamer aus and even tho i suck @ ow i like playing it so!! this fic was rlly fun to write but also Really Hard? bc of that i rlly hope u enjoyed reading!!!!  
> if yall wanna hmu on [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/6woojin) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/woo6in) thatd be so so great!! if u wanna talk abt prompts, markhei, or literally anything else, itd make my day!!  
> also super big thanks to u guys for any kudos/bookmarks/comments!! it rlly encourages me when im writing and it means a lot <333


End file.
